Improvement in steam-traps and boiler-feeders



E. Fox.

STEAM-TRAP AND BOILERFEEDER. No.185,8v20. Patented Jan.

N. PETERS. EHOTWU'I'HOGRAPHER. WISMINGTDN. D C.

UNITED STATES EDWARD FOX, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-TRAPS AND BOILER-FEEDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,820, dated January 30, 1877 application led December 26, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD FOX, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Steam- Traps and Boiler-Feeders, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to a vessel containing an open oat that operates the valves for the delivery of the water of condensation either into the external air or into a boiler. In the one instance the apparatus becomes a boilerfeeder, and in the other instance a trap for the delivery of water of condensation from a heating apparatus or coil.

I provide a valve at the bottom of the float, which opens the discharge-pipe as the iloat sinks, and the said valve is closed as the oat rises, and I combine with' these parts a balancing-lever and a moving weight that increases the power of the lever to sustain the weight of the float, and also serves to hold the oat down when moved in the other direction. Thereby the movement of the float is rendered rapid and reliable in either direct-ion, and the valves are fully opened or fully closed.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the steam-trap, and Fig. 2 is a section of a modification thereof, and Fig. 3 is a plan, in larger size, of the valve employed at the bottom of the float.

The vessel c is ofthe proper size and shape, and it is provided with a cover, b. At one side of the vessel a is the inlet-pipe c, which, by preference, is provided with the checkvalve d, and there is a strainer, e, placed within the -vertical cross-pipe f, at the ends of which are plugs 2, so that the strainer can be removed and the cross-pipe cleaned at either the top 'or 'bottom thereof without disturbing the connections of the tubes. This strainer retains any particles of solid matter that might obstruct the valves of the apparatus.

The float h is hollow andopen at top 5 and it is guided so as to move vertically, and it is provided with a valve, It, at the bottom opening to the discharge-tube l that, by preference, is provided with the check-valve m. The oat is jointed to the lever n, that moves upon the fulcrum-spindle 4, which passes through the case or vessel a; and upon the outside it is provided with a lever, o, balance-weight r,

and connection s, to the relief valve or cock t. This lever o is, by preference, a tube partially filled with mercury, so that when the lever is descending and the outer end passes below the center the mercury runs to the outer end, giving a preponderance of weight and leverage to lift the float suddenly, and, when onv ,the pipe c into the oat h there should be a tubular guide, l', from the bottom of the float to the pipe Z. There will be little or no water in the vessel a, and this tubular guide l is sufciently loose to allow any such water to run away by the discharge-pipe Z.

The oat will descend rapidly as soon as the necessary weight of water has run in, and

in so doing the valve la is opened and the waterruns out by the discharge-pipe Zuntil the tloat again rises and the counterpoise completes the upward movement of the lioat suddenly, as aforesaid, and closes the valve, and the operations are repeated. The relief-valve t allows the steam in the trap to escape, so that it will not delay the ow of the water of condensation. If the water of condensation runs into the vessel a outside the float h, then the valve k is to be made, as shown in Fig. 3, to close at the bottom of the thimble w, as well as at the inside of the ioat h, to retain the water in the vessel a and in the oat, and when the float falls the water of the vessel a flows rapidly over its upper edge and increases the weight of the lloat, and the valve k is opened, allowing the water to discharge rapidly from inside the iioat l1J until the Weight of the iioat is counterpoised sufficiently for it to be raised by the lever, when the valve k isv closed both inside the iioat and at the discharge-pipe, and the water running in accumulates and flows over into the ioat until it finally sinks, opening the valves and allowing the Water to pass 0H, as before. l

The float, when it falls, rests upon theseat 6 around the upper end of the discharge-pipe Z, so that there is but little Waiter` escaping from the vessel a While the oat is being emptied.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination of the open float h, vesse1a,a.nd Valve 7o, Within the oat, closing upon the seat at the bottomof such Hoet, and the discharge-pipe l, and eounterpoise-lever o, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the lever o, shifting- Weight r, relief-cock t, oat h, valve k, vessel a, and delivery-pipe Z, substantially as set forth.

3. The inlet-pipe c of the steam trap or feeder, and the cross-pipe f, in combination with the flat or nearly flat strainer e, inserted lengthwise within the pipe f, and the cap or plug 2, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed by me this 20th day of December, A. D. 1876.

EDWARD FOX. Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, GHAs. H. SMITH. 

